"Only point I wanted to make was that quitting job is not a pre-requisite to having a successful startup, which you were implying. I used to hear that often and naively believed that to my own peril. I discourage others to do the same however amount of saving you may have unless you are at a stage where you never need to work for money."

If you don't have any money in the bank, then you shouldn't quit your job. However, I feel that it's better to quit your job after saving money than toil away for a much longer period of time trying to do both.

I suppose it also depends on your startup. If you are trying to start the next zany Twitter or Facebook app or your goal is to just get funding, then yeah, maybe a year of savings won't work...